I knew he couldn't stand to wait for very long. Before, I assumed he'd one this before but from the looks of it, the thought hadn't even occurred to him. He told me to handle all of the snooping around, since actually fighting when necessary didn't seem to be my strong suit. I wasn't about to argue with that. I felt tempted to ask him why he never thought of simply killing this Natalie he hated so much, but I was smart enough to know that now wasn't the time for that. We made plans to "strike" at exactly midnight. Or at least, when the clock on the laptop said it was.

"Natalie isn't just some annoying girl who tried to drive me out of these woods with some cheap acidic gas, Max. She's an annoying girl who also happens to have a cleaver and years of arson, murder, whatever on her hands. She's been living cozily, out of sight from the police, which is one thing more than what you could say for us. So...I want you to be careful. Okay?" Hodek raised an eyebrow at some spare gloves he'd found in a box in the training room, then looked to me as he strapped them on. I closed my eyes, trying to retain that information.

"...okay."

"We're just going to slip in and out of the house before she even notices. Well, you will. I might have to keep her at bay."

"Can I ask exactly what you're planning to say if she sees you?" I asked, double-checking for my pliers. I'd taken them off my belt a long time ago and only over the last couple of days thought to keep them near me again.

"Like you said. Give her a scare. I'm not really looking to kill her friend in there, but it wouldn't hurt to make her think I will."

I recalled the first and only time we had seen the two, and furrowed my eyebrows. "Did you hear the way Natalie yelled at her in the street? I'd hardly say they're friends."

Jeff paused and gave it some thought. "You're right. They're probably dating. Come on, let's get out of here before it hits 11:45."

—

For a moment, as he helped me out of the ground I could see a trace of appreciation in his features. Something about the way he was acting right now had changed. It didn't last long, though, as he brushed himself off and looked in the direction of where this mysterious cabin in the woods was supposed to be. He gave me a short sideways glance as if to make sure I was still there.

"Remember the plan, mask-boy. No talking. Avoid the leaves. The twine, pliers, whatever the fuck you have on you stays on you until I say otherwise. Once you see the little twat, stay behind me. And we are having pizza tonight, not your local Chinese garbage. We have that every night. Got me?"

I nodded wordlessly, and he grinned. Not like he had a choice.

"Great."

And we dove under the cover of the trees. Now and then I'd see him check back on me, which was fair because he was moving fast. Every time he did, something resembling grief clouded his face, and he'd shake his head and keep forward. Eventually, he seemed to spot a clearing and stopped in his tracks. I just barely kept myself from running into him as he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a serrated knife, slowly stepping out into view.

And so we waited.

And we waited.

And we waited until five more minutes passed and a girl in a bloody, fur-lined jacket emerged from the other side of the forest with a plastic bag in hand.

So that's Natalie.

At first, I was concerned Jeff couldn't see her, because he was definitely a little hesitant to get her attention. But as she was just about to open the door to the cabin, he spoke.

"Might wanna be careful there. Don't want anybody escaping, now would we?"

She turned her head slightly, looking beyond aggravated. "The hell do you want, Jeff. I'm busy."

"Doing what? Buying clothes? Tired of that coat always weighing you down now?"

"None of your fucking business, smiley. Now go away."

He sighed and pulled the knife into clear view. "Well, that's not very polite at all. And I'm not leaving until I know what's going on here. Or at least, until your little prisoner's dead."

She whirled around, drawing a cleaver respectively. I noticed she didn't even have both of her eyes; one of them was replaced by what seemed to be a still-functioning pocket watch.

"You're one to talk. You've got some new girl every week now. Don't see you just touring them around."

"But the difference is, I killed them. You've got some sort of sweetheart in that cabin of yours, I'm thinking." He sighed again with a twisted sense of superiority, clicking his tongue. "I know you, Nats. You're not the secretive type. It's just not like you to do this." He twiddled the knife between his fingers, like he was itching for the opportunity to use it. I doubted he really knew her at all; the way he said that sounded more like a ploy than anything, but I wasn't going to talk. I was still waiting for my go in the shadows.

"You've got 10 seconds to let me do the job. If not, I've got a masked wonder-boy behind me who could get past you just as easy."

He's so sweet.

Natalie narrowed her eyes and tilted her head. After a moment, she muttered, "You got Tim?"

"Jesus Christ—you know, nevermind. You'll see soon enough. That is, unless you wanna come to your senses soon. 5 seconds."

She sneered, bringing her cleaver up to her chest. "Suck a dick, Hodek."

Hodek paused a second, almost like he was at a loss for words. That little façade died sooner than I thought it would. He spoke quietly.

"If you were waiting for a signal, Masquerade, those brave words did it."

I took a moment to arm myself, then charged at the girl at full speed. He followed suit.

In all honesty, throughout the brawl while Jeff was probably fueled by bloodlust and throwing strings of curses at her in his mind, all I could really think was, He called me by my real name. Thoughtful.

Of course, I could still focus. It was easier than I thought to get past her, while she was distracted by him. I noticed the door was actually opened, and a sliver of light was shining through. I could catch just a glimpse of a room filled with...

Clocks?

Making sure she couldn't see me, I slipped inside and surveyed the room around me. There was a window to my left, and four doorways—three of which led to even smaller parts of the cabin. It seemed this really was as tiny as it looked.

Unless that fourth hall led to something bigger.

I looked curiously into the darkness, not expecting much. After all, the cabin's walls ended about four feet from where I was standing. But then why did it look as if this tunnel-like thing went on for miles?

I decided against checking too far into it; that would put a damper on the search. Besides, as far as I was concerned, we didn't really want this girl's prisoner dead just yet. Just get in and out, find as much as you can.

A full minute passed before I even noticed there were two body bags stored in the first room to my left.

Oh. Did she...?

I bolted to the smaller-looking one and unzipped it as fast as I could, all too aware that my time was running out. The corpse must have been there for almost a year now; its flesh had already rotten away, only a couple locks of hair were visible on its head, and what I guessed were a hundred gashes in its stomach, chest, face, limbs, you name it, had dried a long time ago. I would have gagged if I could afford to. Jeff must have been growing tired of distracting her by now.

The second body was larger, and a bit heftier. The moment I saw that its head had been crushed completely, I lost the will to explore further. But I had to, and besides, what could possibly make it worse? I unzipped it all the way, not bothering to look anymore until l had the full picture. Turns out, the rest of the body was also no good to identify. Everything looked like it'd been used for something. There was fresh blood all over their arms and neck, even staining most of...

The clothes.

I'd recognize that uniform anywhere. Without a second thought I closed up both bags and made for the window. It opened easily, without much friction, which I thought was odd. There wasn't much time to think anything right now, though.

I slid out, ran to the front, and saw that Jeff was winning. Not so surprising, but also not ideal for right now. I couldn't let him know I had any connection to whoever was inside that cabin.

As he struck Natalie down and was about to open the door, I tapped his shoulder. "Wait. Look at the sky."

He glanced up at the dawn above him, and let out a small groan.

"We should head back. You've scared her enough already, if you do anything more she'll never leave the cabin again."

He looked over to where Natalie was standing. Her hand was twitching towards the doorknob in desperation. He sighed.

"Fine. You're only getting lucky, clock girl," he called in her direction, "because Max here's got twice the restraint I do. Be grateful. And don't you fucking dare tell your little girl what happened here."

Natalie's good eye widened as far as it could. "H-how did you kn—"

Before she could finish, he turned around and stalked away, dragging me along with him. When we were a safe distance from the cabin's clearing, he gave me a thankful look.

"Nice job. Guess you really are good at what you do."

"Stop talking, it's literally almost 5:00." I found it in me to laugh, but I didn't feel so great about what had just happened.

Someone from my family went to get that girl.

And they didn't make it back.